Are Cheap Chinese Smartphones Getting Expensive?

Be it Coronavirus or the tension on the Indo-China border in Ladakh, there has been a wave of opposition in China against which people are against buying Chinese smartphones, as well as Chinese smartphone companies in India. She is increasing. Although in India they also emphasize on "Make in India", but prices are increasing due to which GST is being said to increase. But is this completely true and why are Chinese smartphone prices rising in this era of Coronavirus? Let's find the answers to these questions.

The coronavirus, which started in China at the end of last year, has steadily increased this year. In India, due to its cases, there was a lockdown in March and there was a lockdown in almost all the countries of the world which had a direct impact on the world economy. Import-export stopped in all countries and the smartphone industry also saw its effects. There was a ban on the production of all goods in India, including smartphones and the parts of the smartphones that were being assembled in India also started to end, as a result, the smartphones became expensive or out of stock.
In March, India's finance minister announced an increase in GST on smartphones and all their components from 12% to 18%, after which all affordable phones became expensive. Its biggest impact was on brands like Redmi, Realme, Poco as they used to sell phones with very low margins. In the smartphone market of up to 20,000, the Chinese companies that have made their catch have made it work by giving more features in the prices. Although the prices of phones of all brands have increased, we have seen more upheaval in the affordable range.

Price Hike

As C4Etech notices the Redmi Note 9 Pro, which initially had a starting price of Rs 12,999, was to be Rs 13,695 after the GST increase, while the company raised it to Rs 13,999. The price of Redmi Note 9 Pro Max should also be Rs 15,800 after the GST increase, but the company kept the new price at Rs 16,499 and after some time it was increased to Rs 500 and Rs 16,999. Similarly, Poco and Realme also increased the prices of phones, taking advantage of the increase in GST.

Chinese Smartphone - Changes in Chipset

In phones of Redmi, Poco, and Realme, which used to see Snapdragon 700 series chipsets for between Rs 15,000 and 20,000, MediaTek chipsets have started appearing such as Redmi 9C and Redmi 9A launched with MediaTek Helio G25 and G35 chipsets. And recently came with Realme 6i MediaTek Helio G90T. The Redmi Note 9, which has just been launched in India for Rs 11,999, also has the MediaTek Helio G80 chipset and the upcoming Redmi 9 on August 4 also has the MediaTek chipset.

Where did Amoled display go?

Earlier in most Chinese phones, an AMOLED display was given, with an in-display fingerprint sensor. Now the trend of giving fingerprint sensors on the side is because AMOLED display is no longer being offered in affordable phones. Redmi Note 9 Pro Max and Note 9 Pro launched in March also had LCD displays and now the launched Redmi Note 9 also has LCD display. The price of Realme 6i, launched on July 24, also starts at Rs 12,999 and you will also get an LCD display in it. It is understandable that prices increased after GST, but the company is also reducing features.

There is a fast charger, but no support on the phone.


Some phones of Redmi have also come before which have fast charger support, but there is no fast charger in the box. After the complaints, fast chargers have also started coming into the box. But the recently launched Redmi Note 9 has a 22.5W fast charger, but the phone only has 18W fast charging support. However, now the company says that they will bring support further.

After the GST increase, not only the Chinese phones but all the phones have started getting expensive like Samsung's, Motorola's. But the reason for the lack of features is not understood. The cameras have changed from three to four, but the display has become LCD again with Amoled and the chipset is no longer looking to do that much better.